Lotuz - Life with indie gameshttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480-lotuz-life-with-indie-games/
Lotuz - Life with indie games SyndicationTue, 15 Jul 2014 12:59:41 +0000support@gamedev.net (GameDev.net)IP.Blog60The Return of the Lord - Games by younger mehttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2259861-the-return-of-the-lord-games-by-younger-me/
The game is in Portuguese, pt-br, so that would be a little confusing for most of you, but I really want to share it.

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]]>Tue, 15 Jul 2014 01:12:51 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2259861-the-return-of-the-lord-games-by-younger-me/Flickering overlapping objects - Common bughttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2259786-flickering-overlapping-objects-common-bug/
Sometimes, two objects that slightly overlap have a flickering effect. This happens because one object is being drawn in front of the other at a time.

The common cause for this is the sprite sorting behavior not having a fixed decision for when two objects have the same sorting variable.

Let's assume whats usual, that you are using your Y value, vertical position, as the means to sort what object is in the front. When twoo objects have the same Y value, you have to take a decisive action to make sure that every time the sorting is called, the same result will be wielded.

Assume that:

A.Position = { x:5, y = 10}
B.Position = { x.7, y = 10}

And your sorting method is:

If you have a sorting function, the result of the sorting based on Y will basically be decided on what object you first passed into the function. This may cause flickering.

In this case, you have to setup a second decision variable. My recommendation is to simply, if both Y values are equal, use the X value to decide what object is drawn first. I may post an example showing the bug and the fix.]]>Sat, 21 Jun 2014 18:19:46 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2259786-flickering-overlapping-objects-common-bug/Getting back on Brazucahttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2259125-getting-back-on-brazuca/
You guys can get it via dropbox, here:

It requires .net framework 4 and xna 4, the installer is supposed to install them, if you dont have them. If this does not work, tell me please.

Open GL + .net version coming tomorrow if anyone cares about that, since there were more downloads of the opengl version.

Any game breaking bugs or weird stuff, suggestions, anything, just drop a message and I'll work on it asap.

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]]>Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:57:57 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256628-brazuca-second-release/Brazuca - 48 hours laterhttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256589-brazuca-48-hours-later/
So, I made this using XNA 4.0. I already have some experience with XNA, so it was all pretty easy. I drew some basic images that I would use without animations and everything was pretty simple.

I want to keep working on this for a while, adding more features other than actually playing, like evolving your character, saving and loading, leagues, and all that stuff.

I have been also wanting to test monogame and decided this would be a good moment to try it out, so I made this MonoGame OpenGL version:In the end I'm happy to have made something fun in this period and will probably keep working on it. Now I'm thinking about a platformer.

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]]>Tue, 09 Jul 2013 04:05:00 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256589-brazuca-48-hours-later/Brazuca Update 3http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256585-brazuca-update-3/
The matches will last around 60 seconds. And the game will simulate what happens, when your team or the opposing team does something, and this will also decide when you have chances of trying to shoot or pass the ball around. These will have fixed chances of happening for now, but during the day I hope to change that to be according to how much your team trusts you, how good you are, how good your team is and how good the opposing team is. For now I won't leave you guys with a screenshot, but tonight I'm almost 100% that I'll post something downloadable here!

This has been fun, but now I have a really crappy headache.

See you guys.]]>Mon, 08 Jul 2013 06:56:19 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256585-brazuca-update-3/Brazuca Updatehttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256582-brazuca-update/
The first added player will be the goal keeper, and he will just react to kicks and try to get the ball away.

What I have so far:
Kick the ball, add force and a direction
Kick the ball (2) define exactly what part of the ball to hit
Ball kicked -> The ball will go up in the air, high or not so high, depending on where you kicked, will spin and get some effects on the air.
The ball may go above the goal, as I'm now considering height, which will also help with allowing oponents to head it away.

It still looks like crap, and that part I wont really worry about until its done. Just want to finish it.

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]]>Mon, 08 Jul 2013 00:56:33 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256582-brazuca-update/Working on it - Brazucahttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256581-working-on-it-brazuca/
Now what I'm trying to work on is to get the ball to look like its high in the air. I'm not sure about how im going to do that, because I can't have the ball higher and end up messing the detection on wether it has left the field or entered the goal! Also, that will be important as I have to be able to pass the ball above other players so they can't head it.

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]]>Sun, 07 Jul 2013 19:37:22 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256581-working-on-it-brazuca/Making Boredom Useful - 48h mini game jamhttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256576-making-boredom-useful-48h-mini-game-jam/
It will be a soccer simulator called Brazuca 2013, and I WILL release whatever is created after these 48 hours.

This is a small fun project, as I have been spending all my time on the development of Lotus, but the last couple of days have been of pure stress due to computer issues, so, to release this stress, and since I'm home for the weekend, nothing better than a game dev marathon!

I will be back soon to give you guys some updates. Wish me luck. ]]>Sun, 07 Jul 2013 02:33:00 +0000http://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256576-making-boredom-useful-48h-mini-game-jam/This road seems too long and too darkhttp://www.gamedev.net/blog/1480/entry-2256444-this-road-seems-too-long-and-too-dark/
Working on an indie project is a combination of really powerfull emotions.

I have been developing web applications professionally for the last 4 years. I'm 23, and graduated from college at 21, so I was working in college. In my last job, I didn't have much work to do, and it got boring fast. I spent most of my last months of employment wondering how good would it be to be sent home, got paid, and being able to work full time on my game for a few months.

Well, that happened 1 month ago. I was sent home and moved back with my parents to reduce my costs. With some money in the bank to live and invest in my game, and free time, I thought that this was my chance.

The project of Lotus started in 2008, when I was chatting with 2 friends I had known for the last 8 years and we decided to make this game. I was the only one that knew any programming and that knew how to actually create games. But I still had a really long way to go.

Cutting to nowadays, I have some experience, and have created an engine with my own hands, with several cool tools I can use, I have some money to fund the game and free time to invest.

But sometimes I do not feel like it can be done. Because I'm with this project for the last 5 years, and only on the last 2 years it actually became a real job. The problem, I see, and don't take me the wrong way, is that I have taken upon myself a big project, and teamed with 2 friends that couldn't actually contribute to the project in anyways other than having ideas.

I write stories, create names, draw maps, think about geography, politics, character interaction, character personality, work on the engine, contact artists, think about how to spend this money wisely, study game design, study what when right with some guys, what went wrong with other guys, but on the end of the day, things just get really depressing.

Its a really dark place out there when you have something you are really passionate about, and you feel like you have to walk that path by yourself.